The present invention relates to a method and structure of furniture construction and, more particularly, relates to a method and structure of furniture construction in which certain of the elements thereof, namely, the back and seat, may be pivoted rotationally away from the baseframe of the structure to permit ease of change and/or removal of the fabric or upholstery upon the back and seat portions thereof.
The present invention is an improvement over both my U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,720 (1990) entitled Modular Furniture System and U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,113 (1992) entitled System of Fabric Covering. The instant invention, however, differs from my modular furniture system, primarily in that the hollow unitary back portion thereof is rotationally mounted to the rear panel of the structure, while the unitary seat element is rotationally mounted to the front panel of the baseframe of the structure.
In the prior art, the change and removal of upholstery or fabric from sofas, sofa beds, convertible beds, love seats, sofa chairs, and the like, has constituted a difficult, expensive, and time-consuming process such that the typical cost of re-upholstering a sofa or sofa bed has been in the range of $700 to $3000. Accordingly, as a practical matter, sofa, sofa beds and like structures, are rarely re-upholstered, because the cost of re-upholstering comprises an unacceptably large percentage of the cost to replacing the entire sofa. Further, even in those instances where cost is not a constraint for a particular consumer, it is generally necessary to have a sofa, or at least the seat and back cushions thereof, taken off premise such that appropriate re-fabricing thereof may be done at a manufacturing site.
Also, in most prior art sofa, sofa beds, sofa chairs, and the like, fabric is employed as a covering of portions of the structure, other than the seat and back cushions thereof. When this occurs, it is almost mandatory that the entire structure be taken off premise for replacement of the fabric or, alternatively, that a portion of the premises of the sofa owner be effectively converted into a "factory location" while the re-upholstering is accomplished.
The present invention thereby addresses the problem of change of fabric of a sofa-like structure through the provision of a system having some similarities to my said U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,720 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,112, in which, the respective back and seat portions thereof are rotationally mounted, as by hinge means, to the respective rear and front panels of the structure, as is more fully described below.
In the prior art it is known to make use of hinge means in furniture construction, however, for purposes completely different from the purposes for which hinge means are employed in the instant invention. For example, the use of hinge means in a sofa bed is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,642 (1972) to Barabas, entitled Hinge Seat Platform For Sofa-Bed and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,287 (1980) to Laine, entitled Knock-down Sofa Bed With Hinge Mattress. In these structures the supporting frame for a sofa mattress is, by various means including hinge means, mechanically connected to the base frame of the structure. As such, there is no aspect of these structures that employ hinge means for the purpose of facilitating ease of change of upholstery.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,157 (1965) to Reinfeldt, entitled Covering For Seats Having Hinged Back, there is shown a system, adapted for use with car seats and the like in which, through the use of a back portion which is hinged relative to a base portion, certain advantages are achieved including ease in the installation and change of the upholstery of the seat. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,892 (1976) to Hellman, entitled Seat Cover Fastening System, teaches a fastening system for rapid assembly and installation of the upholstery of an auto seatcover and, further, teaches the use of a split tube element as a means of releaseability holding fabric in place. While the inventive system may, in certain embodiments, make use of such a split tube element for fabric securement and release, the teaching of Hellman, and the other prior art referenced above, bears little similarity to Applicant's invention when viewed as a system.